


Assassins and New Experiences

by magequisition



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: First Kiss, Learning to read, M/M, Sparring, beginning relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-19
Updated: 2012-08-19
Packaged: 2017-11-12 10:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/490055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magequisition/pseuds/magequisition
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When John is tasked with teaching Ronon to read English, things don't quite go as he'd expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Assassins and New Experiences

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whiteraven1606](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteraven1606/gifts).



Ronon dropped the book on the table with a thud as he slumped down into the chair beside it.

                "John, this is stupid," he muttered, as he did every time they sat down to do this, irritation clear in his voice. John sighed and sank down into the chair next to Ronon's.

                "Yeah, buddy, I know. But it's Elizabeth's orders. You know how cranky she gets." John replied, the same way he always did.  Ronon sighed and flipped open the small orange-covered book. Elizabeth had recently learned that while Ronon could speak English perfectly, he'd never actually learned to read it. It seemed that growing up, Satedan children were taught conversational English, but written was never seen as important. She'd been unimpressed by this, and informing John that literacy in English was vital to the success of the expedition, had tasked him with teaching Ronon to read. He groaned as he remembered the utter failure of that conversation.

                _"I'm not a teacher, Elizabeth. I'm so far from a teacher it's not even funny," he complained irritably._

_"You'll be fine, John, and I can't spare anyone else right now. You and Ronon are always hanging out anyway, since he's on your team, just work it into your conversations or something."_

_"But, Elizabeth…" he started._

_"We're done, John. I need you to teach Ronon to read. I'll make it an order if I have to."_

_John sighed and left the office, muttering grumpily under his breath._

That had been three weeks ago, and while they were making progress, Ronon was (understandably, John thought) cranky and resentful about the situation.

                "C'mon, Ronon. Half an hour. Just get through the book. Then we'll go spar or somethin', okay?" John asked, his voice almost pleading. "You're doing so much better, and if we can show Elizabeth you can read a couple of kids' books that'll probably be enough to satisfy her for a while."  Ronon grumbled incoherently at him before looking down at the book he'd randomly opened on the table.

                "Hate you," he mumbled under his breath before starting to read aloud. "Would…you…like…them…with a go-at?"

                "Goat, Ronon. You don't pronounce the A." John corrected.

                "That's stupid." Ronon protested.

                "Yup. That's English." John agreed. Ronon rolled his eyes and slowly read the rest of the book.  As he read the last sentence, he flipped the cover shut significantly harder than was really necessary.

                "There. Can I go hit something now?" he asked. John grinned

                "You got it.  Wanna go down and spar?" he asked.

                "Great. So I can hit you, then," Ronon said with a grin.

                "You can try," John said, walking away, Ronon following closely behind him.

****

                "I'm just saying, you guys think it's weird that kids on Sateda learn to fight early…even though it's necessary….but you've got children's books about spotting assassins." Ronon said as they walked into the locker room to change for their workout.

                "Spotting…what?" John asked incredulously as he swung his locker open.

                "That Sam-I-Am guy was obviously trying to poison the other guy. Green food? Last time I checked, meat here was the same as on Sateda and when it's goin' green, you can't eat it anymore."

                "Ronon…I…no, I mean…" John said, choking back a laugh. "Ronon, it's just a kids' book. It's total crap. I think it's supposed to be a lesson in trying new things, actually, but it's mostly nonsense. It's not about an assassin. Did you even read the end of the book?" He asked, as he hung up his jacket.

                "You heard me read the end of the book. I still say it teaches kids to watch out for assassins. Although if you ask me the guy was pretty lousy at it…gave in at the end and everything." Ronon leaned his shoulder casually against the locker next to John's while the other man finished changing, admiring the way the other man's lean muscles bunched under his fitted shirt as he moved. Closing his locker, John looked over at Ronon, who seemed to be distracted.

                "You ready to go?" he asked.

                "What?" Ronon asked, snapping back into focus as though John had startled him. "Oh, yeah. Let's go." John shot a sideways glance at Ronon, confused by his unusual distraction, as he turned to leave the locker room and head in to the gym. Ronon paused for a minute, watching John walk casually towards the door before moving to follow him, trying not to make his delay obvious.

****

                "You're going easy on me," John said with a grunt as he hit Ronon squarely in the hip with a hard kick, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

                "Am not," Ronon replied, swinging forward with a punch. John stopped it easily, grabbing Ronon's arm and twisting it downwards. His overconfidence caused him to lose focus, however, and Ronon's other hand swung up and caught his shoulder, shoving him against the wall before grabbing the hand John had previously grabbed him with and pressing it against the wall beside his head. John struggled against him, trying to use his lower centre of gravity to leverage the much larger man away from him, but Ronon simply held him more firmly against the wall of the gym.

  1.                 "Okay, okay, I give," John said. "Lemme go, Ronon." The words had no sooner left his mouth than Ronon was crushing his mouth to John's own. The kiss was brief and, almost as fast as it had begun, it was over;  Ronon releasing John and pushing away from the wall as he did so. Noting the shocked look on John's face, he muttered a quiet,         



                "Crap. Uh, sorry." Staring at the ground, he swung around and left the room quickly. John remained leaning against the wall, his heart racing as he tried to grasp what had just happened.

****

Ronon lay on his bed, staring at his ceiling, having already worked out the majority of his frustrations through the destruction of several small objects in his room, which had mysteriously hit the wall a few minutes after his entering.

                "Such an idiot, why'd you do that," he muttered to himself. "Way to blow everything." No sooner had the admonition left his mouth than there was a knock at his door. He shot to his feet, attempting to make himself look busy.

                "Yeah?" he called out. The door slid open, and he glanced over.

                "John." he said, dropping his eyes instantly. "Didn't expect to see you around. Uh, sorry. About before. Dunno what I was doing. Bad idea."

                "Ronon," John said, cutting him off. "Shut up and let me talk, will ya? Took me ages to convince myself to come here." Ronon plopped himself on his bed again, leaning against the wall, his face a blank slate that John was positive was a mask.

                "Look…" he started. "I can't say I was expecting what happened in the gym. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't…shocked by it." He held up a finger as he saw Ronon open his mouth to speak, effectively silencing his friend. "But ya gotta know…it wasn't…bad." He shifted awkwardly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "But on Earth there's, well, rules about this kinda thing. I can't just…you know…anywhere."

                "We're not on Earth." Ronon pointed out. "Besides, I saw you kiss Teyla once."

                "Well, yeah, but I still gotta follow Earth rules. And it's not kissing that's the problem, exactly. It's the…some people on earth have a problem with two guys or two girls being together. And unfortunately that means our military has rules against it." Ronon snorted.

                "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Who cares how you get off as long as you do?"

                "Yeah, I know it's stupid. But it's still the rule. Doesn't mean I can't, mind…just means…not publically. It can't get out." He took a cautious step towards Ronon.

                "Yeah, well, whatever 'it' is, it's nobody else's business anyway." Ronon said, his voice dropping slightly. Finally, John chanced a look up and saw Ronon's eyes dancing with amusement.

                "You laughing at me?" he asked, as he grabbed a handful of Ronon's shirt, pulling him towards himself and tangling his other hand in a few of the much larger man's dreadlocks as he pulled his head downwards to kiss him firmly. 


End file.
